Radiation Protection News Room
The news articles posted on the “Radiation Protection News Room” are provided solely as a service to readers. The intent is the raise awareness of current radiation issues in the news. Providing links to a non-EPA Web site does not constitute an endorsement by EPA or any of its employees of the sponsors of the site or the information or products presented on the site.
Radiation in the News
News for May 7, 2009
Radioactive Waste
- High-enriched uranium traces found in Egypt: IAEA (Washington Post)
The U.N. nuclear watchdog is investigating the discovery of traces of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear research site in Egypt, according to a restricted International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by Reuters.
- Obama slashing Yucca Mountain funding in 2010 (SFGate - Associated Press)
President Barack Obama is seeking to cut funding for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain by more than $90 million, dropping the project's budget to the lowest level ever, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's office said Wednesday.
Safety and Security
- More Protection Against Explosives And Nuclear Material In Freight (Science Daily)
Illegally transported, conventional explosives and nuclearly relevant or radioactive materials can enable international terror organizations to transport hazardous materials for attacks to any place in the world. - Radiation Authority Sees Safety Problems at Nuclear Site (YLE News)
The Finnish Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority STUK says that the construction of the commercial nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, which is to be the world largest, has not proceeded according to official requirements. - Spent nuclear material focus of meeting (Middle East Times)
The IAEA meeting, scheduled for May 11-20, is expected to bring together more than 500 representatives for the third Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management review meeting.
Health
- Radiation exposure due to Sellafield low, says institute (Irish Times)
EVEN THOSE who eat the most seafood and spend the most time on and around the Irish Sea are exposed to only low levels of radioactivity every year from Sellafield, a report by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland says.
Nuclear Power
- Report: Brisk activity at NKorea nuclear test site (Washington Post)
South Korean officials have detected "brisk" activity at a North Korean nuclear test site, a news report said Thursday, days after the communist country threatened to conduct nuclear and missile tests. - Nuclear talks get first breakthrough in 10 years (Reuters)
Delegates meeting on the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty struck their first agreement on the anti-nuclear arms pact in a decade on Wednesday, which diplomats said was largely due to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Nuclear Weapons
- Obama: Tougher treaty to halt nuke weapons needed(Seattle PI)
President Barack Obama urged delegates at a U.N. meeting to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty so it can deal with the threats of nuclear terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons. - Analysts Examine North Korean Motive in Restarting Plutonium (Voice of America)
Last month, North Korea launched a long range ballistic missile, considered by many Western countries as a provocative act.
Other
- 71 universities get nuclear project awards(United Press International)
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu Wednesday announced the selection of 71 university nuclear energy research and development projects
News for May 6, 2009
Radioactive Waste
-
Port Hope Area Initiative seeks approval for radioactive waste cleanup (Northumberland News)
The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) has submitted its last licensing application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for the clean-up of low level radioactive waste and a long term waste management facility. - IAEA: Third Review Meeting of Joint Convention Opens 11 May in Vienna (ISRIA)
Parties to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management are meeting for two weeks in May to review national reports describing how their obligations under the Joint Convention are being implemented. A process of "peer review" will allow Parties to discuss in detail safety measures taken to implement the Joint Convention. - Nuclear waste disposed of in Utah despite SC, NJ, Connecticut having own site for it (Chicago Tribune)
Despite having their own radioactive waste dump, three states have shipped millions of cubic feet of waste across the country this decade to a private Utah facility that is the only one available to 36 other states, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. Department of Energy records.
Safety and Security
- Radiation Authority Sees Serious Safety Problems at Nuclear Building Site (YLE News)
The Finnish Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority STUK says that the construction of the commercial nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, which is to be the world’s largest, has not proceeded according to official requirements.
Nuclear Power/Nuclear Energy
- Rivne Nuclear Power Plant reactor three put back on stream after repairs (Kyiv Post)
Radiation levels and the fire and environmental situations at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants are normal, reads the statement.
Nuclear Weapons
- Israel brushes off call to sign nuclear arms pact (Reuters)
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official said NPT membership had not stopped Iraq and Libya from trying to develop nuclear weapons. - Pakistan, US Launch Nuclear Security Talks, Officials Say (Global Security Newswire)
The United States could help Pakistan safeguard or destroy highly enriched uranium and other radioactive materials under arrangements being discussed by the two nations, the Boston Globe reported today.
Science
- US radiation dose has doubled (Science News)
Collectively, Americans now receive more than twice as much radiation each year as in the 1980s. That’s according to a new tally by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
News for May 5, 2009
Radioactive Waste
Yucca Mountain
- Erosion of the Yucca Mountain crest(EurekAlert)
The Yucca Mountain crest in Nevada, USA has been proposed as a permanent site for high level radioactive waste. But a new study, already published as an article in press by Elsevier's journal Geomorphology and recently included in the Research Highlights of Nature, shows that there may be erosion of the crest.
Cleanup
- Tons of tainted tailings are on the move -- finally (Salt Lake Tribune)
The Energy Department has projected the cleanup will take until 2028. But Michael Moore, the agency's acting director of environmental management, said Monday the timeline probably will be shorter, closer to the 2019 completion date set by Congress. The deciding factor, he said, is money.
- Bechtel names new director of Hanford vit plant (Tricity Herald)
Bechtel National has named Ted Feigenbaum to its top position at the $12.2 billion Hanford Waste Treatment Plant under construction.
Safety and Security
- Strife in Pakistan Raises U.S. Doubts Over Nuclear Arms (New York Times)
But the United States does not know where all of Pakistan’s nuclear sites are located, and its concerns have intensified in the last two weeks since the Taliban entered Buner, a district 60 miles from the capital. - Activist: DOE should stop building at SC site (Washington Post)
The Department of Energy should halt construction on a nuclear waste reprocessing facility in South Carolina after an internal investigation found several safety flaws, the head of a nuclear nonproliferation group said Monday. - Detecting Dirty Bombs from a Safe Distance (MIT Technology Review)
Tracking and locating hazardous radioactive materials has become an immense concern for the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Health
- Doctors Should Minimize Scans That Expose Young Patients to Radiation (Insciences Org)
Radiation exposure is a known risk factor for cancer later in life, and children are believed to be more vulnerable to the effects of radiation because their tissues are still developing and their cells dividing more rapidly than those of adults, the scientists say.
Nuclear Power
- US sanctions will not halt nuclear work: Iran (Washington Post)
Iran will not suspend its disputed nuclear program even if the United States imposes sanctions targeting companies that ship fuel to the Islamic Republic, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.
Nuclear Weapons
- Obama pledge on nuclear weapons wins praise at UN (Seattle PI)
President Barack Obama's pledge to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons won praise Monday from China and key developing countries, and spurred hope that Washington's policy shift and new U.S.-Russian cooperation will end a long deadlock on global disarmament efforts.
Other
- EPA: ethanol crops displaces climate-friendly ones (Associated Press)
The Environmental Protection Agency says that corn ethanol — as made today — has a worse impact on climate than gasoline when land use changes are considered.
News for May 4, 2009
Radioactive Waste
- DOE awards Los Alamos, Sandia for sustainability (KDBC)
The Department of Energy has recognized two national laboratories in New Mexico for their environmentally sustainable practices.
Safety and Security
- Faulty Material Installed in MOX Facility, Probe Finds (Global Security Newswire)
Weak steel and other poor-quality materials were used in construction of a $4.8 billion facility erected at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to convert weapon-grade uranium into mixed-oxide fuel for use in civilian nuclear reactors, says a report by the Energy Department's inspector general. - Inspectors find safety problems at nuclear weapons complex (Waterbury Republican American)
Contractors at one of the nation's major nuclear weapons complexes repeatedly used substandard construction materials and components that could have caused a major radioactive spill, a recently completed internal government probe has found. - Audit targets safety at SC nuclear facility (Boston Globe)
Also found that one of the mistakes at the site near the South Carolina-Georgia border could have resulted in a spill of high-level radioactive waste.
Nuclear Power
- Oldest US nuclear plant resumes normal operations (WIBW)
Normal operations have resumed at the nation's oldest nuclear power plant a week after it was shut down because of a failed transformer.
Nuclear Weapons
- US says ready to cut nuclear missiles in Russia deal (Reuters)
The United States is ready to cut the number of nuclear weapons delivery vehicles as part of an agreement with Russia to replace a Cold War arms treaty, Washington's chief negotiator was quoted as saying on Monday.
Science
- Nuclear surviving plant yields its secrets (euronews)
The “world's toughest bacterium” seems to have superpowers that can survive even the deadly gamma radiation that comes from a nuclear explosion. - International Atomic Energy Agency Calls For Enhanced Radiation of Patients (Medical News Today-press release)
But radiation safety experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say that overuse of high-tech scanning procedures may unnecessarily expose patients to increased radiation levels. The IAEA, in collaboration with other international organizations, is developing a series of measures aimed at strengthening patient protection.
News for May 1, 2009
Radioactive Waste
- Obama opposition to nuclear waste site questioned (Reuters)
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified at a congressional hearing in March that Yucca Mountain was no longer an option for holding radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and weapons complex sites around the country, repeating the position of President Barack Obama.
WIPP
- Nation's Only Nuclear Dump Now Ten Years Old (Chief Engineer)
WIPP is meant for defense-related waste such as protective clothing and tools, largely contaminated with plutonium, which remains radioactive for tens of thousands of years.
Health
- The IAEA Believes Patients Are Needlessly Irradiated (Softpedia)
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) believe that high-tech medical scanners, while perfectly fit to detect hidden diseases and tumors inside patients, could use some improvements, in terms of protecting the people that go in them from the harmful effects of too much radiation.
Other
- Barrasso puts hold on EPA nominee (Waterbury Republican American)
Obama nominated McCarthy last month to be the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, a position that oversees air quality and policies regarding climate change.